...The association of Trauma and Somatic symptoms: the efficacy of Somatic Psychotherapy Review Literature The goal of this literature is to investigate the efficacy of utilizing Somatic Therapy for deeper understanding, and better treatment, of trauma impact, through the association of somatic symptoms with trauma exposure. A biopsychosocial perspective of conceptualizing the impact of trauma on individuals would contribute to a new perspective of this association with somatic symptoms- specifically ones that do not have identifiable medical pathology. The Association between past Traumatic events and later manifested Somatic Symptoms In an earlier review of the relationship between medical symptoms- without identified pathology- and psychiatric...
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...LIVING WITH PTSD: THE WOUND THAT NEVER HEALS by C. J. On a cool September day in 2007, my entire life changed. That day I shot and killed a young man as he attempted to break into my home. The incident took place on a Friday afternoon, and the perpetrator subsequently died in the hospital two days later. My family and friends were there to help me through the ordeal but life soon returned to normal for them. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about my own life. My immediate reaction was a combination of sadness, anger, guilt, fear, and shock about what had happened. Being a US Air Force veteran, I took part in Desert Shield/Desert Storm and never had to pull a gun on anyone. I never dreamed I would end up having to shoot someone in my own home. Everyone around me told me I shouldn’t feel bad that the perpetrator died because I was protecting my family. Though it sounded perfectly logical, the guilt was eating me alive. For the first couple of months after the shooting, I operated in pure fear. I became paranoid and hyper-vigilant. Every noise I heard in the night made me jump even though they were the same familiar sounds I heard every night, such as the refrigerator motor turning off and on. But what disturbed me more was that I was afraid of noises I heard during broad daylight also. The shooting happened at approximately 1:30pm in my back yard outside my family room window which I no longer enjoyed but had to pass by daily. After a few months of living in fear, I just went...
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...Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Abstract Posttraumatic stress disorder is a common and disabling disorder that develops as a consequence of traumatic events and is characterized by distressing re-experiencing portions of the trauma, avoidance of reminders, emotional numbing and hyper-arousal. In spite of the deleterious impact of PTSD within the U.S. military, our current understanding of the human pathophysiology governing the divergent paths associated with extreme stress response the remains unabated. Given the widespread phenomenon of ‘trauma’, it begs the question of whether or not preexisting features accompany some suffers who have developed PTSD and why others may or may not face the same effect. Much research has been conducted in this arena and it seems that no one researcher has a definitive cause, much less a standardized treatment approach for PTSD sufferers. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) develops as a consequence of traumatic events such as interpersonal violence, disaster, severe accidents, or other life-threatening experiences. The most common characteristics of PTSD are the re-experiencing of symptoms linked to a specific event. Patients involuntary re-experience aspects of the traumatic event in a very vivid and distressing way. This includes: flashbacks, in which the person acts or feels as if the event were recurring, nightmares, intrusive images or other sensory impressions from the event. For example...
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...one of who was 8 year old Martin Richard. Whose mother and sister were severely injured in the explosion. (Hosken, 2013) This certainly was a horrible experience for the Richard family and for many others who were there in-between it all when it happened most likely having them develop PTSD. Traumatic experiences such as this one would often leave the people feeling shaken and disturbed and even though there would be numerous individuals with PTSD this essay will focus on the Richard family and how what they have gone through would be a great cause for them developing PTSD. (Train, 2009) This essay will discuss PTSD thoroughly looking at the following aspects. The clinical description, epidemiology, etiology, the diagnostic criteria according to the DSM-IV-TR and lastly the treatment and prognosis will all be discussed in this essay making reference to the Richard family for a clearer understanding of PTSD. 2. Clinical Description A traumatic experience can be described as exposure to an event where someone feels fear, helplessness or horror. (Barlow, 2012) Where victims such as the Richard family may experience some afterward effects of the bombing. First thing that people with PTSD may experience after a traumatic experience is flashbacks. (Barlow, 2012) The victims will reexperience the event through memories and nightmares. These memories and nightmares are usually accompanied by...
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...By describing some of the things he saw in afghanistan and his personal attack he establishes a personal connection to people. He opens the door to the conversation he wants to have by opening up and sharing his emotions and the moment most considered a “weak” moment in life. Junger conveys an emotional message to change the traditional view that society needs to help the veterans into a view of society itself. Junger is the best to speak on this issue. He was a war reporter and a civilian. He lived through the horrors of war and went through the transition from a military life to a civilian life in our society. Junger has first-hand experience of the trauma endured by military experiences and has received help. Junger has done a lot of research about this subject using his experience as a journalist and his first-hand...
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...posttraumatic stress disorder. She has been working with trauma survivors for over 20 years. Posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is perhaps best known as a mental health condition that many soldiers experience after war, but it’s a problem that stretches far beyond the military to affect 5%-10% of all men and 7%-14% of all women in this country. “PTSD is a disorder in which the patient responds to a watershed event by not being able to recover from its emotional impact,” says Yehuda. “The direct cause is exposure to adversity, and the more trauma people experience, the more likely they are to have PTSD.” Traumatic exposure is extremely common. “More than half of all people in the United States are exposed to the kind of event that can give you PTSD, and more than a quarter are exposed more than once,” says Yehuda. “Because so many persons experience trauma, PTSD is one of the most common mental health conditions in this country.” There are a set of common symptoms most people experience after a traumatic event. “When tragedy strikes, almost everyone will feel very shaken up, and for at least a few days there can be nightmares, flashbacks and the inability to sleep or concentrate,” says Yehuda. “PTSD is a disorder where those symptoms continue for weeks, months and sometimes years.” Not everyone exposed to trauma develops PTSD, and some groups are at higher risk than others. “You’re considered at risk if you have a family history of PTSD or other mood and anxiety disorders, if you’ve...
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...The need for a clinical treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) sits at the forefront of research in the psychiatric community. With its emergence as a defined disorder, rather than a label of “extreme trauma” or “shellshock,” PTSD exists as one of the more difficult psychiatric disorders to treat successfully. Although several treatments are available at the clinical level, the success rate for curing the PTSD patient remains small and pervasive. In recent years, mental health providers, through numerous studies and related experiments, concluded that PTSD patients respond most favorably to a multi-layered treatment process. With the use of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), drug therapy, group-based therapy and other forms of psychotherapy, patients are achieving a higher cure rate and lower rate of re-occurrence. PTSD is an anxiety disorder triggered as a result of an extreme traumatic event in a person’s life. This trauma might be the result of battle, death, abuse, or violence of any sort. The trauma can cause symptoms to manifest within a month of the event or lay dormant for a period of time, according to all definitions of PTSD. This disorder causes the traumatized to continually re-live the event, to separate from anything associated with the event, either perceived or real, and to become numbed to their normal life process. Another specific reaction to PTSD is hyperarousal, or a heightened sense of watchfulness or paranoia. These symptoms are usually...
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...cases. Spurred by inclusion of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the psychiatric diagnosis nomenclature in 1980, experimental research has examined many facets of the phenomenon. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) published by the American Psychiatric Association in 1994, a trauma is defined as an experienced or witnessed event that involves threat of death or serious injury, and which evokes feelings of terror, horror, or helplessness. Thus, events such as anticipated death of a loved one, job...
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...unimaginable. No one understands you. You have no one to talk to. You live in fear. How would you handle it? “The brave men and women, who serve their country and as a result, live constantly with the war inside them, exist in a world of chaos. But the turmoil they experience isn’t who they are; the PTSD invades their minds and bodies.” Robert Koger said this thought-provoking quote in his book, Death´s Revenge. The quote captures the chaotic and fearful nature of PTSD. PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, is a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault ("What Is PTSD?"). People who suffer from PTSD can have various symptoms. They often will have vivid flashbacks of the event that triggered the...
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...It is undeniable that sleep is an indispensable part of life. In the whole life, people spend approximately one third of their life time sleeping. Sleep is necessary to maintain the effect of cognitive functions such as flexibility, memory, speech or thinking and to recover lost energy sources after a long day. Therefore, sleep disturbances can result in serious health issues or negative impacts on daily activities. There are many reasons that lead to disturbances in sleep. This essay will identify how chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder cause disruptions in sleep and the way they affect not only the physical attributes but also the mental health of a person. First of all, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is considered as one...
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...Psychology essay PTSD case study PTSD what is post-traumatic stress disorder. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a condition of stress which is caused by an event, and now you get flashbacks. Post-traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder which is caused by an event earlier in life that is very stressful or psychologically disturbing. People with this disorder may have flashbacks and relive the event through their nightmares, and they could also have trouble sleeping at night. PTSD happens most often in soldiers and those who have been in the war due to the extreme situations that arise from it. Symptoms, Biological, Mental. The symptoms of PTSD are …. The biological symptoms of PTSD are. One of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder is the constant feeling of danger. The symptoms are increased anxiety, experiencing the event again through flashbacks or nightmares. Another symptom is avoidance of things that remind you of the event, being unable to remember some parts of the event, and also loss of interest and feeling detached from others. Memories of the event will be intrusive. The physical symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder are dizziness, shortness of breath also possibly chronic pain and tightness in the chest. A common symptom is a feeling of intense fear. Other symptoms are persistent depressive feelings and dissociation. This disorder often coexists with anxiety or eating disorders, or depression. In the case study Andy’s initial symptoms after...
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...Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a disorder triggered by exposure to a highly traumatic event that results in a recurrent, involuntary, and intrusive memories of the event; avoidance of stimuli and situations associated with the event; negative changes in thoughts or moods or emotions; and a persistent state of heightened physical arousal (Hockenbury & Nolan, 2016, p. 546/547). Society has always been aware of PTSD, especially in soldiers who have recently returned from war. However, it was not until the 1980’s when PTSD was finally identified as a disorder with specific symptoms. In recent findings, studies showed that 20% of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans,...
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...1 Signs & Symptoms of PTSD Dr. Michael Lyles People who experience PTSD, they do not remember, they literally relive what they are going through. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – An anxiety disorder that occurs after exposure to a traumatic event, which triggers memories of the traumatic event and is characterized by intense fear, helplessness, and horror. 25-30% of victims of significant (extreme or severe) trauma develop PTSD. The lifetime prevalence of PTSD in this country is about 8%. That accounts for about 5 million adults. That is a lot of people and unfortunately, we do not pay a lot of attention to these people. We don’t think about them enough in our clinical settings. In fact, these people utilize a number of medical services. It is estimated that about 11.8% of person’s going to family care, in primary care settings, may have people with PTSD, but it’s not something that we think about and recognize in primary or specialty health care settings enough. It’s estimated that up to 50% of combat exposed military personnel have some form of PTSD. It occurs 2x as common in women, particularly because of the impact of sexual trauma on women. What is a trauma? Trauma can occur from: Witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event Trying to help someone with a traumatic event Rescue workers Clergy person Therapist The risk for developing PTSD varies depending on the severity and duration of the trauma and how the trauma was experienced by the person...
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...DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PTSD AND SOMATIZATION DISORDER Laura Bennett Belluvue University I will look at some of the ways that PTSD and Somatization Disorder are alike. One symptom that they have in common is musculoskeletal conditions. Another symptom that they have in common is GI problems. Some of the treatments for both disorders that are the same are cognition therapy and the use of antidepressant medications. I will now look at how each of these is different and also will look at some of the different treatments for each. Somatization disorder is defined as a psychiatric condition marked by multiple, medically unexplained physical or somatic symptoms. In order to qualify for the diagnosis of somatization disorder, somatic complaints must be serious enough to interfere significantly with a person’s ability to perform daily activities and lead the person to seek medical attention. (Brown, R., Schrag, A., & Trimble, M., 2005) One of the theories on the cause of somatization disorder suggest that it is a way of avoiding psychological distress. Another theory suggests that somatization disorder arises from a heightened sensitivity to internal sensations. Usually with somatization disorder there are symptoms of headache, difficulty swallowing or speaking and urinary retention. To qualify for the diagnosis, at least 1 of the symptoms must resemble a neurological disorder, such as seizures, problems with coordination or paralysis. For a definite diagnosis of somatization...
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...there. – ARMY COMBAT ENGINEER, POST-IRAQ Transition can mean the big picture of how a warrior has to try to adjust back into society, but the short term is very critical, from when a warrior leaves the battlefield to when they hit the streets at home. If there’s one thing I learned from my experiences, it was that there was no transition at all. –VIETNAM VETERAN Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has become the major medical issue with our soldiers returning from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. For many soldiers, it is a badge of honor to have served but for most, it is a start to an endless battle of finding the courage to continue to serve or be labeled an unfit soldier for the military and useless to their family. PTSD affects not only the soldier’s way of life but the core of who the soldier is. For this reason, the government should take special care informing society what is PTSD, who gets PTSD and what types of treatments are available to them. Government must ensure there are programs in place to assist soldiers and family members in dealing with PTSD issues. The Department of Defense and Veterans Administration to encourage service members and veterans to seek help early, before problems...
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